Thought I'd give a summary of my recent trip to Scotland. It was myself and 3 other scratch golfers. Scratch is an understatement for those 3...combined they have played in about 20 USGA events. I am a 0 and was the worst handicap on the trip by at least 2 full shots. None of the other 3 guys had been to Scotland before and I thought I might be able to stay level with them since I've been twice...WRONG. The gap was humbling.
The weather the entire trip was outrageously good. Not a drop of rain and wind rarely over 15mph. Temps in the high 60s to low 70s all week. Courses were all super firm and fast with very dry rough.
Our trip started out with 3 of the 4 guys' clubs not making it from JFK to Glasgow. Undeterred, we headed to North Berwick for our first round of the trip.
North Berwick - we had arranged a match against 4 members prior to the trip, and they gave us a guy who played at Texas, 2 kids heading to the US for golf next year, and a former professional. My 3 teammates played rental clubs and we scratched out a well fought half against them. The course was mint. I'd played it last year in rain and wind, and this year was an absolute revelation. North Berwick is just good damn fun to play.
Castle Course - Not my favorite course, but one that I always like to play to see the polarizing reactions of the golfers I'm with. All of our golf clubs and luggage were finally brought to us that morning. We were allowed to play the tips and the best golfer on our trip blazed a damn 66. When we got into the clubhouse after the round and the staff heard about that score they came over and informed him that it was the unofficial (non-tournament) course record and would be in touch with him to get him something to commemorate the special round. Overall, the course was in amazing shape and since I had played it twice before I didn't find it as intimidating as in the past. Doesn't play as bouncy as some of the truer links, and the greens are more American style with tiers and undulations galore. I know the locals hate it, but I think it's a cool testament to a design team that was able to shape a visually compelling course out of a flat potato field.
New Course - One of my personal favs from the past and it was our first introduction to just how baked out the courses were this trip. Also the windiest day of the trip with wind around 25mph. Chip shots just would not stop rolling. All 4 golfers hit SW into a 520 yard par 5, none of them able to hold the green. And then coming back into the fan we couldn't reach a 400 yard hole in 2. Nobody broke 75.
Old Course Round 1 - We had a tee time at 7:30. First time I have ever played the Old Course in the morning and it was simply glorious. It's the reason I make the trip over there to begin with, but this round was as pure as anything I've ever felt. Not a puff of wind and the course was just flawless. We had 4 great caddies. Since the courses were playing shorter than usual, they actually had a few tee markers back, instead of the 6600ish they usually keep the tourists on. I figure we played about 6800. I was 1 under until a triple out of a pot bunker on 16 derailed me. The 11th there remains my favorite par 3 in the world. The other 3 guys came in at 71, 72, 73. After the round we hit the Himalayas for a rather heated putting contest that resulted in me buying double whiskey for everyone. Fuckers. The day ended with us going and having drinks on top of the Hamilton Grand behind the 18th green since one of our guys knew the gentleman who owns the entire first floor.
Carnoustie - I have had mixed feelings about Carnoustie from my past trips. Yes, it's got a ton of history and can be hard, but it also suffers from a lack of scenery and I've had shit caddies all 3 times I've played it now. Still, playing it with the grandstands up and the course basically tournament ready was pure joy. However, the true highlight was meeting Gary Player and Ivor Robson on the 1st tee. They were working a Rolex outing and Ivor was announcing everyone off the tee, and then Player would offer up swing tips, etc. We were the first tee time after the outing, so we got a chance to get pictures with both. And when Player found out we were from the US, he went full on Trump Rube and gave us a speech about how much Trump has turned around America. Paraphrasing..."He has made your economy great again. He is securing the borders.
And he is finally educating the blacks." Note, that last sentence was not paraphased...he actually said it, and before any of us could pick our jaw up off the ground he was whisked away by his handlers. Truly surreal experience. Back to the golf - we had shit caddies, but that didn't make the round less enjoyable. We had to hit from turf mats in the landing areas the pros would be expected to use, however seeing how firm the course is they were not even close to protecting the actual playing areas. The rough is tall, but very dry. You can easily advance the ball towards the green but get no spin on it. The beauty of Carnoustie to me is twofold - 1) the bunkering around the greens limits run ups and allows for pins to be tucked for difficulty. It's not as wide open as the other links courses on the approaches. And 2) the routing has holes bending both ways, never 2 in the same direction. My own personal highlight was on 17 (downwind) taking it all the way over the 2nd burn off the tee and having a 60 yard pitch to the green and making birdie. Then on 18 I stuffed a 4 iron into the wind to about 8 feet and missed the birdie putt. Given that I had never even parred either hole in 2 previous trips, I was very happy. The stud golfer in our group doubled 18 to shoot 70. Also, there was a really cool fog that settled in on the back nine for about an hour.
Kingsbarns - After proving our handicaps, they let us play the tournament tees around 7400 yards. Course beat me up - by this point my legs were shot - but I witnessed 2 of our guys go 67 and 70 respectively. For some reason, Kingsbarns always falls flat for me. It feels like an american golf experience dropped onto the Scottish coast. It has great scenery, and 2 awesome par 3s. I know I am in the minority on this, but I just don't feel it's a must play. I'd rather play 36 at Crail nextdoor than another 18 at Kingsbarns. After the round we went to the Dunvegan for lunch and myself and one other decided to check the tee sheet at the old and see if we could get in one last round before leaving town the next day. My legs were pure jello, but magically felt 100% when the starter said "sure, I can slot you in at 5." So off we went, and had a glorious time playing with 2 locals. We even snuck back and hit shots from a few of the open tees since the group behind us was lagging by a hole. I will never get tired of that course.
After that we headed to the other coast and stopped off at Western Gailes. Fantastic track, but damn do we wish we had taken a forecaddie. The first 6 or 7 holes were pretty miserable as we struggled to find aiming points, and the course has a ton of gorse. Probably the worst round score wise for everyone on the trip, but still a very cool track to cross off my list.
And finally we ended our trip at Turnberry. I'd played it 5 years ago and thought it rivaled Pebble Beach for scenery, and I'd say the redesign has only made it better. Holes 10-12 are all a fantastic change. 10 used to be a dogshit humback fairway par 4 and is now a ball busting 225ish par 3 out over the rocks.
Some pics:
